Want the best deals? Then, sometimes you HAVE to negotiate. Check out yesterday’s post, 6 Things Worth Haggling Over and check out the post below, you’ll never miss a deal opportunity again.
6 Things Worth Haggling Over
4. Personal Services – Always negotiate prices on yard work, handyman services, house cleaning, anything you are paying an individual to do at your house! Just don’t be too hard on the teenage babysitter that lives next door! Seriously, these service providers expect you to negotiate and will usually mark up their prices expecting to come down.
You don’t want to be the one that pleasantly surprises them by just paying the first price they offer. Make sure you are very specific as to what services will be performed as it is always more expensive to go back and add work in the middle of a job!
5. Buying Multiple Items – This may not work at Wal-Mart or Target, but it will work at almost any furniture, electronics (even at Best Buy), jewelry, or similar type store. The idea is that the more you are buying, the lower the prices will be. Most of these stores have high enough markups that they can discount significantly and they will IF you ask!
Pick out all the items that you are planning to purchase then, ask for their best price. After that, offer 10% less. Or ask them to throw in all the expensive cords you need to hook that new Blu-ray up to the new television.
Best Buy has predefined programs where floor reps can add in all items being purchased and the registers will come up with a package price, often a discount of 10% of more. Make sure you get all the extras such as cords, remotes, surge protectors and the like put together before they package it as these extras often will have the highest discounts!
6. Medical Bills – Hospital stays, physician services outside of normal office visits, these bills can kill a family budget and drain saving accounts very quickly. But you should know that there are ways to stretch out and reduce the amount of these bills so that you don’t blow your budget and can maintain an emergency fund.
Here’s my strategy: Wait for insurance to pay their part and then wait for the final bill with amount you owe after insurance, only then call and talk to billing department. They almost always can offer a discount for setting up a payment plan if you are making a first payment right away and an even larger discount if you will pay the entire amount right away.
Don’t agree to more than you can afford. Also, be sure to call back every few months and try to negotiate it down further. As long as you are making payments on time, they will normally continue to work with you to pay off your bills without killing your budget. Don’t put these charges on your credit card. Most of the time the payment plans worked out with the medical provider will not be charging interest, but your credit card will!
I hope these tips have helped you, be sure to share your negotiating tips too!
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